Lock for steering-gear of conveyances.



I 1. A. KIRKHAM. LOOK FOR STEERING GEAR 0F CONVEYANCES. APPLICATIONFILED AUG.5, I9I4.

1,175,273. I V Patented Mar. 14,1916.

I a q I 72%; I I 71 I 5: I I? 5,;

JOHN A.

Us in BEHEtELEtELL, F PG'RTLPiNB, GREG-8N.

LGGK F91 WWII;

- Specification oi Letters Eatent.

Patented Mar. it, 1916.

Application filled August fr, 191%. Serial No.

To all who m may concern:

Be it known that l, Jenn Kinsman, en of the United i jtates, and aresident of one city of Portland, county of ll lultno inah, State ofOregon, have invented a certain new and useful linprovenient in lioclrsfor Steering-Gear oi Gonveyances, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to thesteering gear of self propelling vehicles andboats, and has for its object the providing of simple lotrl-c0ntrolledmeans by which the steering gear may be rendered inoperative, that is tosay, locked against rotation, and thus render the vehicle unlit forservice, and protec ing it against being tampered with, and theconeyance from being stolen.

A further object of my invention is to provide a locking mechanism whichcan be readily applied to the steeringgear of standard makes ofautomobiles.

T he means by which I attain my obiect are more readily described byhaving reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l a side elevation showing the steering wheel. and the column orcasing which the post of the latter rotates; these parts being shown torepresent like devices in one of the standard types of automobiles, andmy steering wheel locking mechanism is shown as applied in practice;Fig. 2 shows the upper portion of the column in which the steering wheelpost rotates, and shows in section thermeans provided'hy me for lookingthe steering wheel against rotation, and Fig. 3 is a detail ofconstruction.

41 represents a fixed tubular column or casing ineiosing the tubularpost Z) of the steering wheel a and 0, (Z, the usual spark and throttlecontrol levers. The housing f incloses the cooperating devices of myinvention. This housing may consist of a casting which is either shrunkon. or rivet-edor otherwisefiiged on the casing a, so as tobecome afixed part of the latter.

Tho drvices shown by me for locking the steering post are of the clutchtype, but of course I do not limit myself specifically to these.

On the steering wheel is fixed a fixed collar or clutch member 6. havingits lower end serrated.

A sleeve or movable clutch member at is spring 79 fastened on the outerarm of the lifting bell i'eciprocable in thehousing f. The head or'upper of the sleeve n is serrated so as 4-, 5 W i ---1 kd in s adapted-or oeing llllfii 00 e wit the serrated lower end of the collar 6. Tolimit the sliding movement of the sleeve n, and also to hold the sameagainst rotation, the" housing t is provided with an internal lug 0,bearing in the slot n oi the sleeve 'n.

' An annular nut g is screwed into the upper end of the housing f andprovides a bearing for the. upper end of an expansion 'coil spring g),the lower end of which is seated on a peripheral-collar n of thesleeve 1. The spring 7) tends normally to hold the serrated head or topof the sleeve n out of engagement with the serrated lower end of thecollar 6. The devices for holding the sleeve or movable clutch member nin en gageinent with the fixed collar or. clutch member 6 consists of apawl or latch 2', pivoted on a pin i yin the chamber i of the housingportion ,2, and said pawl is controlled by a spring j, as shown in Fig.2. The sleeve 91 has aslot a? in alinement with the pawl 2'.

A lock 9, which may be of the pin-cylinder loelr type,,is located in thehousing portion ,2 and includes a rotatable cylinder h. A cam h is fixedon the cylinder h, and

to the latter is fastened a spring 12?, which acts to place the cylinderh in its normal state, and will reversely rotate such cylinder, afterhaving been rotated loy the key 1" to unlock the steering post, as soonas the key r is withdrawn or released. Said pawl or latch a? has-an arm2" arranged to be enby the cam h or the lock cylinder h.

At the lower end oi-the housing f is a lifting bell crank is, pivoted ona pin is in said chamber 2' Said bell crank has an arm normally held inthe position shown by a A. projecting push button on is crank 7c andprovides convenient means for rocking the latter so as to lift thesleeve it against the spring into engagement with the collar 6. When thesleevej n, has been lifted to its highest position, as shown in Fig. 2,said pawl 2' will enter the slot a of the sleeve 01 and hold the latteragainst downward movement, and thus render the steering gearinoperative.

To unlock the locking mechanism, the key r is inserted in the lock, andthe lock-cylinder it turned so as to cause the cam lb of thelock-cylinder h to bear against the arm a" of the pawl or latch 2', andthus rotate the latter counter-clockwise. This action withdraws the pawl'6 from the slot n of the sleeve n, which will thereupon be thrown outof its engagement with the collar 0 by the action of the spring 9, andthe clutch engagement between the collar 6 and tire sleeve 71, will beinterrupted, permitting the steering wheel to be'operated as usual.

I claim:

1. In a steering gear of the character described the combination withthe steering 0st, oi a lock for holding the latter against eing rotated,and comprising a clutch, one element of which is fixed on the steeringpost and the other being movable on the tubular column in which thesteering post rotates; a spring operating to throw the movable clutchelement in inactive position; a spring-controlled pivoted arm operablefor moving said clutch element into its active position;spring-control]ed means for locking said movable clutch element inplace, when in its active position; and key-actuated means for releasingsaid movable clutch element from, said hacking means.

2. In a steering gear of the character described, the combination withthe steering post of a lock for holding the latter against rotation, andcomprising a clutch, one element of which is fixed on the steering postand the other longitudinally movable parallel with the axis of thesteering post and on the tubular column in which the steering postrotates, a spring operating to throw the movable clutch element into itsunlocked position, said clutch element being provided with a slot, aspring-controlled pawl adapt.- ed for entering said slot when themovable clutch element is in its locked position; a lwy-actu'ated lockincluding a, spring-con trolled rotatable cylinder, a cam onsuchcylinder, and a member on said pawl adapted for said cam to bear againstwhen said cylinder is rotated.

JOHN A. KIRKHAM.

Witnesses:

\VM. (7-. SoiiM'rr'r, (licoin Limo.

